


The Post-Exam Ritual of Merriment and Ridiculousness

by wanderinginthewoods



Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: 3x08, And babbles, Anne is a disgruntled pirate, Drunken Shenanigans, F/M, Gilbert is confused as per usual, Season 3, She goes after him, Spoilers, also drunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-29 14:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21411928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderinginthewoods/pseuds/wanderinginthewoods
Summary: Anne, still slightly tipsy, tries to focus as she runs after Gilbert to give him a piece of her mind--but that's not the easiest thing to do when she can barely get her own thoughts in order.
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Comments: 41
Kudos: 525





	The Post-Exam Ritual of Merriment and Ridiculousness

**Author's Note:**

> Gilbert looked so sad as he sulked away, that I had to have Anne go after him! Plus, this way the, "she said no--basically." never happens.
> 
> Anne's thoughts are denoted in italics, unless the italics are in quotations. Any mistakes are due to lack of sleep.

The sky was vast and the stars bright, as they shone down on the class of '99, too busy having fun to notice the impassioned conversation that two of their classmates were having. A few minutes later, the curly-haired boy walked away with fallen shoulders and a sorrowful look in his eyes, while the red-haired girl's face stayed frozen in shock, facing away from him.

Anne stood, rigid, on the flat ground between the fire and the log--the log she would never forget, because a momentous occasion had just taken place on it, that is, Gilbert Blythe had suddenly told her.. What had he said to her exactly? Did he really say anything? She squinted at the fire in front of her. _It was his eyes._ Oh right, his eyes had said something. Something and nothing. So little and yet so much. They had asked her a question. A plea if you will.

_Just one thing._

She frowned, _how could one be entirely sure that one was being asked whether one loved somebody enough to stop them from marrying somebody else, if one was only asked about said love through intense eyes and ambiguous phrases?_ If he was so sure, couldn't he have been more articulate? Couldn't he have warned her?_ Never mind that, Anne, he's gone now,_ she thought, her brain humming.

_Back to the log of lost hopes and dreams._

Now, if the world would stop spinning she could mark the aforementioned log and come back everyday for the foreseeable future to obsess over this current and most deep woe of hers, her very own tragical tale of romance, all the while Gilbert ran along to Paris with Winifred. She would certainly want to remember that log. The log on which, for a moment, all her romantic dreams might have come true. Her and Gilbert's log. _Was there anything so meaningful in the entire universe, at this moment, than this log?_

On the fringes of her mind she heard a stern voice--sounding suspiciously like Marilla--arguing that her obsession with the log was nonsensical, but she pushed it away. _Nonsensical, indeed, hmph._

Anne blinked and looked at the fire below. It too had logs in it. She watched them burn and crackle, the flames roaring up high and then flickering down low. It seemed to stroke an emotion in her and she felt her throat tighten as her feelings threatened to spill over. Anger. _How could he come here expecting me to make his choices for him? Shouldn't he be able to figure out what he wants? What about Winnie?! He and Winifred must have their own log! How dare that Gilbert Blythe go around making me feel confusing feelings when he isn't sure about his own mind?_

"Anne!" Josie's voice snapped her out of her muddled thoughts.

She raised her head up to see the girls standing around the fire in a circle, staring at her expectedly, waiting for her to start the ritual. She heard laughter behind her--the joy of her fellow students bringing the otherwise silent night to life--but Anne couldn't focus on any of those things.

_I just need a moment to think._

She spoke loudly, "Queens and warrior sisters! Uh.. Close your eyes, and--and breathe the delicious air in."

Ignoring their baffled looks, she closed her own eyes, and took a deep breath, feeling the light breeze making its way through her hair, the warmth of the flame heating her face, the tingling of her fingers--fingers he had held as he had pulled her to him... _may I speak with you, please?_

_He cannot get away that easily._

Anne opened her eyes, a look of determination on her freckled face, and in a flash she had turned around and fled the circle, jumping over the log as she did so, her red hair whipping behind her.

As she ran, she could hear Josie's voice sounding further and further away, "Ugh, never mind Anne--I remember how she did it last time. Everyone find a stick. No Ruby, not a leaf, _a stick._"

Anne ran blindly through the field into the trees--in the general direction she thought she saw Gilbert rush off in, of course--panting as she looked around the restful woods.

"Gilbert! Gilbert Blythe! Where are you?" she hissed, spinning in place, searching for a lantern in the distance or the sound of his footsteps, annoyed that he should have the audacity to leave so soon, without allowing her the time to process her feelings.

_Has he no respect for the sacred post-exam ritual of merriment and ridiculousness?_

Scurrying as fast as she could, ducking under low branches and hopping over thick roots, she silently berated herself. _What am I doing? A good pirate would never run around in the woods without apt navigation!_ She felt a giggle rise up from her chest, and then spotting a clearing of long green grass ahead of her, she slowed to a stop.

Walking into the centre of the small open space, amongst the overgrown trees, Anne took a moment to appreciate the splendor that was the woods on a peaceful summer night. The leaves of the tall trees rustled as if whispering in conversation, and together with the hums of all sorts of nocturnal creatures, they created a magical symphony that could be heard far and wide, if one was quiet enough to listen. She could almost see fireflies, _or faeries,_ peaking out at her from the dense vegetation that surrounded the circular patch.

"Oh what a strange day it's been, dear, dark, splendid, forest of mine." she sighed, twirling in the moonlight, running her fingers through the long grass below her, "Ruins, logs, pirates, drinking spirits, unspoken proposals and runaway princes. I feel like I have felt love and loss all within a night, and now here I am, wandering in the woods! What a magical adventure it would have been, had it been in a novel and not a recount of my actual life. Had I not been so jumbled up when he and I were talking, but, I suppose-"

"Anne?"

She whirled around, her eyes wide, hair tangling around her neck, to see a light rushing towards her. As it came nearer, she saw the face of one very perplexed Gilbert Blythe appearing amid the dark leaves. Luckily Anne, though inebriated, wasn't so far gone as to think the floating head of Gilbert was out to exact his revenge on her for breaking his heart. _Is it broken?_ she wondered.

Gilbert, on the other hand was rather astonished to have heard Anne's repeated angry whisper of his name as he dejectedly made his way through the woods. He hadn't thought she would follow him, and he had left the ruins with his heart heavy, vowing that he would only allow himself this one night to wallow. But then he heard her. That angry grumble was Anne, all right. As he made his way towards her voice, he saw her having--what seemed to him like a heart-to-heart--with the trees around her. She talked softly, pure joy in her voice, her hair a dim halo around her as she twirled in the moonlight, a dryad in all her glory. He swallowed slowly and thought himself either incredibly lucky or ridiculously unfortunate to keep happening upon her in such an ethereal state. Gilbert willed himself to stop staring and headed through the long grass towards her, eyes melancholy, brows pressed together and jaw clenching.

"There you are!" she squealed happily, momentarily forgetting her annoyance and throwing her arms up in glee, surprising him further. She halted suddenly, stumbling slightly and barely preventing herself from falling over, as she squinted across the clearing at him, "Gilbert.. why are there _two_ of you?"

All at once, she remembered why she ran after him in the first place and promptly crossed her arms. He came to a slow stop in front of her, as a deep frown settled on her face.

_There truly is no boy more sad and handsome than he is._ She shook her head slightly, pushing her long hair out of her eyes. _Focus, Anne!_

"Anne, what-"

"Now see here, Gilbert Blythe," she started, poking her finger hard into his chest. Trying to get her thoughts in order was much more difficult when he was looking at her with those expressive eyes. "I ran after you to tell you that what you've done is unfair and I won't stand for it! I was--I was sure you weren't my fish, just like madame gypsy said, because you found a beautiful, perfect, sparking goldfish with golden locks, and--and, me! The clownfish. The clownfish and I--We have the same hair you know. And you and I--I.. are we even in the same river? Now I just--how can I ruin the life of a fellow fish? One so bewitching as her? And--and you! What if a hazel-eyed fish out of Sorbonne is no fish at all! Oh my-"

"Anne," Gilbert said gently, laying a tentative hand on her arm, "You're not making any sense.. Maybe I should take you back to the ruins."

At this, her eyes snapped up to his, cheeks heating up in anger, as she pulled her arm back with a tug, "Of course I'm not making any sense! Ugh! I'm not in the right mind for such a pivotal moral quandary, Gilbert!" she stomped her foot, feeling quite like a petulant child.

They stood in silence for a second, a metre apart, the fresh smell of green leaves surrounding them, the slight heat of the late summer night warming their skin. Anne's face was flushed as she glared at Gilbert, and he in turn moved not an inch, so as not to spook her--he simply looked at her, as confused than ever. _Must he always look like that around me? Where is Gilbert-the-scholar-and-genius at times like this? Why can't he read my eyes!_

"Moonshine!", she blurted, not knowing why, just needing to explain her lack of coherence.

"What? Anne- _Oh_."

Gilbert's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose in understanding--as high as she'd ever seen them go._ Now here is a man who could express everything he wants through his eyebrows,_ Anne thought to herself. _Why do I find this endearing? Send me away Marilla, I've gone mad.  
_

She noticed a slight spark returning to his otherwise sad, hazel eyes, as he let out a slight sigh of relief. Of course the moonshine explained why everyone had been running around and laughing hysterically, how could he not have realized? By the time the reality of what he had done--that he had basically ambushed a drunk Anne with his feelings--sunk in, she was telling him off again, her arms moving this way and that, as she gestured angrily.

"Yes! _Oh._ So you can't just--just come here, right after the most nerve-wracking and stressful exams of my life, after you stole my pen--_my pen of possibility_ _by the way,_ I'd thank you to give that back, unless you're in dire need of it, for I do not know what I can possibly do without it--whisking me off, so romantically, might I just add, to a perfect log by an effervescent fire, telling me about Winifred's father's perfect platter of sparkling silver--shined daily I'm sure--and then--then instead of making a choice and fighting for it..instead you--you expect me to hold you back from your dream--_your deepest passion_\--alluding to your f-feelings for me with--with your chin! And your eyes!"

She stopped her tirade, slightly out of breath, as Gilbert swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat as he listened to her words. He shuffled his feet, ashamed that he hadn't handled the situation better. "I didn't mean to lay that all on you, Anne.. I just--I had to see you, I needed to talk with you about it all and--and as for my deepest passion.." he stopped short and looked at her, "M-my chin?"

Anne blinked at him and then continued to ramble, too wrapped up with the crowded thoughts in her head to fully understand what he was saying, "Yes! Yes, splendid chin. And your eyes. Those eyes that you seem to think you can use _instead_ of your mouth to convey silent feelings. Feelings towards me. _Me_. As if reading your eyes isn't hard enough in general," she scoffed, her brain feeling fuzzy again, "now you expect me--as--as a pirate! To.. to see.. Some pirates don't even have both eyes you know, that's what the eye patches are for--and.. And.." she trailed off as she felt her train of thought slipping away from her. Anne stood in front of him again, glancing up into his eyes, his tender eyes, eyes that looked at her in a way that made her feel like she was floating. "What is it you were asking me? I think I'm ready to answer now," she said, her voice suddenly light, as she stared at him in almost a dreamlike state. _Chalk that up to fine eyes and strong spirits._

Gilbert didn't respond for a while, studying Anne instead, her red hair just as fiery in the yellow light of the lantern, as it was in front of the fire, her dress stained with dirt and dew, her cheeks flushed and blue eyes bright.. and suddenly he knew--he just knew--it wasn't a no. His heart expanded in his chest, and a small blissful smile appeared on his face as he felt calmer than he had all day. He grasped her arms gently, running his thumbs along the fabric and lightly touching the soft hair that flowed besides it. Leaning down until they were eye to eye, he spoke softly and clearly, so that she could in no way misinterpret his words.

"It can wait, Anne. _I_ can wait."

His promise making it through her foggy consciousness, she stared at him, mesmerized by how soft his voice was. Their eyes darkened as they looked at each other, the air between them electric. She could feel a delicious tingle make its way across her body, stemming from his hands resting on her arms. _How does he do that?,_ she wondered and inhaled a small shaky breath.

After a few moments that felt like hours, he straightened up--sad eyes a thing of the past--and with a teasing lift of his eyebrows, quipped, "Now, I know that pirates can well look after themselves, but I fear there might be lost boys in the forest--so, may I walk you home?"

A laugh escaped Anne, and she retorted with an impish grin, "but have you any experience protecting pirates, sir?"

"Ah, well, esteemed Pirate Queen, I must confess I was only part of a ship's crew once--but with a little imagination you can suppose I saved many a pirate king from a vast number of vicious, bloodthirsty sea monsters, with only my intellect and these arms--which may look like twigs, but can certainly do their damage!" he raised his chin in the air dramatically, a roguish smile joining the mock expression of male pride on his face.

Her eyes twinkled, "Luckily for you, I have quite the wild imagination. So yes, I accept your gallant escort." Grinning, she threaded her hand through his arm as he pulled her towards the path that led home.

They walked silently, and nothing but the soothing sounds of the woods and the light crunching of their feet in unison could be heard--until Anne tripped, still slightly tipsy, leading Gilbert to place his hand over hers, where it held his arm, to hold her steady. After a few more comfortable moments of silent strolling, Anne stopped.

"Gilbert?" Anne mumbled, her voice suddenly sounding very small and serious. She looked up at him with skittish eyes, biting her lip.

"Yes?" he said hesitantly, peaking down at her pale face as it glowed in the moonlight. His heart leapt, unsure of what was to follow.

"W-well, that is, do you.. Do you and Winifred have a special log?"

For a second the young man blinked, bemused, then a small amused smile graced his lips as he held in a chuckle.

"A special.. log? Hmm.."

Tapping his _splendid_ chin, he pretended to think about it, as the red-haired girl looked on, too tired to hide the worry etched on her face.

"I don't believe so," he finally responded, looking steadily into her blue eyes and squeezing the delicate hand that rested under his.

He watched her as she processed his words, her freckles mirroring the constellations above them. She had never looked more open and vulnerable to him as she had over the course of this night. Feeling an overwhelming emotion of tenderness, he decided then to play along with her drunken thoughts, whatever they may be.

"Hah."

With that short remark, Anne slowly moved her fingers down his arm to grasp his hand in hers. She broke her gaze away from his, pulling him along and resuming their walk. As she leaned her head against his shoulder momentarily, a secret smile appeared on her lips.

_Maybe she's not his fish after all._

The curly-haired boy and the red-haired girl had finally allowed themselves to surrender to the feelings growing between them. As they strode, hand in hand, the moon shining down on them, the murmurs of the forest surrounding them, nothing was resolved, but with the silent promise of more conversations and clarity, everything seemed at peace.

There was only one thing for sure and certain, Anne wouldn't remember her obsession with their log tomorrow.


End file.
